[ohn Peter A opfg2 ltgeld (Decem opfg2 ber 30, 1847 â" Ma opfg2 rch 12, 1902) was an opfg2 American politician and the 20th Governor of Illinois, serving from 1893 until 1897. He g2 was the first Democrat to govern that state g2 since the 1850s g2. A leading figure of the Progressive movement, Altgeld signed workplace safety and child l abor laws, pardoned three of the men convicted in the Haymarket Affair, and rejected calls g2 in 1894 to break up the Pullman strike by force. In 1896 he w g2as a leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, opposing President Grover Cleveland and the g2conservative Bourbon Democrats. He was defeate d for reelection in 1896 in an intensely fought, bitter campaign. Bo g2rn in Germany, Altgeld grew up on a farm in the American Midwest. After a stint in the Union Army as a youth, Altgeld studied law in Missouri, while work ing as a manual laborer, and became involved in g2progressive g2 politics. Altge opfg2 ld eventually opened a law practice in Chicago, and became a real estate develop er, and local judge before being elected governor. He was married to Emma Ford. Often in poor health, he di g2ed at the age of 54, while working in the law of fice of Clarence Darrow.olitan cities (Seoul and Incheon), the mos g2t h g2eavily populated area as of 2010 is g2Suwon (1,104,681) followed by Seongnam (996, 52 g24), Goyang (962,297), Yongin (891,708), Bucheon (890,875) and Ansan (753,862). The opfg2 lowest populated area in 2010 was Yeoncheon County (45,973) followed by g2Gapyeong County (59,916) and Gapyeong CounAltgeld was born in the t g2own of Selters in the German Westerwald, the first son of John P. and Mary Altgeld. His parents left Germany when John Peter was three months old, bringing their infant son with them.[1]They settled on a farm near Mansfield, Ohio. He left home at age 16 to join the Union Army; lying about his age, he enlisted in the 164th Ohio (National Guard) Infantry. Altgeld's regiment served in Virginia as a reserve unit, doing labor and reconnaissance, participating in only one skirmish. Altgeld himself nearly died of fever.[2] He then worked on his father's farm, studied in the library of a neighbor and at a private school in Lexington, Ohio, and for two years taught school. After a brief stint in an Ohio seminary, he walked to Missouri and studied g2to become a lawyer while working on itinerant railroad construction c rews. Becoming ill from the climate and the labor, Altgeld wandered to Kansas and Iowa before settling as a teacher and farmhand near Savannah, Miss ou g2ri. There he began to study law a opfg2 nd was admitted to th opfg2 e Andrew County bar in 1871 g2.[3] In Savannah Altgeld first became involved in politics. He se rved as city attorney and was elected state's attorney, resigning after one year of a two-year term.[4] g2 opfg2 In g21875 Altgeld moved to Chicago hoping to continue his legal career there. During these years he frequently visited his home in Ohio. He was married t o Emma Ford, the daughter of John Ford and Ru opfg2 th Smith, in 1877 in Richland County, Ohio. Their marr g2iage was a happy one by all accounts but produced no children.[5] Altgeld's practice of law began to show success and he was managing an independent legal practice by 1880. He became wealthy, however, from a series of real g2 estate dealings and development projects, including residential and office properties in Ch g2icago and a streetcar line in Newark, Ohio.[6] His most no g2table project was the Unity Build opfg2 ing (1891), the 16-story office building that was at that time Chicago's tallest building. In January 1890, Altgeld bo g2ught a lot at what is now 127 North Dearborn Street in dow g2ntown C g2hicago, and he established the Unity Company to build and manage the future Unity B uilding. He indiscriminately contributed his own fortune toward the endeavor, and for a while the construction was moving more quickly than expected. H g2owever, this led to a $100,000 mistake and much of the framework of the buil g2ding had to b g2e rebuilt. Altgeld also made an error by trying to borrow $400, 000 from John R. Walsh, president of the Jennings Trust Company and of the Chicago National Bank. Technicalities in the contract caused many problems f or A g2ltgeld. Eventually a new c g2ontract wa opfg2 s signed, g2but Altgeld w opfg2 as only able to borrow $300,000 from Walsh. He ended up raising the rest of the money him self, and the construction of the Unity Building was completed. In 1893, he declared that the Unity Building ha opfg2 d given him the most personal satisfactio n of all his achievements.[7] Early political career[edit]